The present invention generally relates to dishwasher racks and more particularly to those that employ positionable support members for the articles to be washed.
Conventional dishwashers include one or more racks to support items to be washed such as dishware, glassware, kitchen utensils, pots, pans and the like. Typically, dishwashers employ an upper and a lower rack. A conventional dishwasher rack includes a bottom wall formed of spaced apart transverse rods crossed by spaced apart longitudinal rods to define an open lattice structure. A plurality of fixed vertical tines extend upwardly from the bottom wall and are arranged in pairs along the longitudinal or transverse rods of the bottom wall with a defined space between adjacent pairs of the fixed vertical tines. Since the articles to be washed vary in size, thickness and weight, the use of fixed equally spaced supporting tines is inefficient and is less than optimal for possible combinations of items to be washed. The present invention resolves these problems by providing a dishwasher rack with positionable support members and thereby allow the user to determine the configuration of the supporting members to adapt to the articles to be washed.
The prior art discloses a variety of structures intended to resolve the problem inherent in dishwasher racks that employ a fixed set of equally spaced tines to support the objects to be washed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,248 employs a folding fence on which equally spaced tines are mounted that is moveable between a folded position adjacent the bottom of the rack and an erect or operating position. U.S. Pat. No. 8,540,085 discloses the use of a U-shaped frame structure from which upwardly depending tines are amounted and where the frame structure can be removably coupled to the bottom lattice structure of a dishwasher rack. The prior art fails to resolve the problem that arises when the articles to be washed differ in size and shape.
The present invention dishwasher rack assembly resolves the problems inherent in the prior art by providing a dishwasher rack assembly that includes positionable support members that can be selectively coupled to the bottom wall of the dishwasher rack in a manner that simplifies and enhances the user=s ability to configure the structure of the dishwasher rack assembly to the size and shape of the articles to be washed.